Young citizens in the bin

Nothing yields nothing. Some young Malawians have become cast-offs due to scanty investment in the technical, entrepreneurial and vocational training system. James Chavula writes.

Cases beyond lawyers’ ability often end up in jail—just as those doctors cannot handle wind up in the mortuary. But the youth denied timely interventions government officials find easier said than done sometimes turn up with big problems in labour offices nationwide.

At Mzuzu Labour Office, they are seen literally sitting on bins along Orton Chirwa Highway.

“We are the rejects of our country,” says Andrew Mgomezulu, 29. “We have no skill, no job and no money.”

Such is the desperation that vehicles hardly stop before they are mobbed with job-seekers clamouring for a turn.

The Ekwendeni-born Mgomezulu vents the frustration of thousands young Malawians increasingly fleeing poverty in rural localities in search of income generating opportunities cities promise.

“When I arrived in Mzuzu in 2013, I fast discovered lack of skills is only good for low-paying, back-breaking piece works like loading logs and timber in Viphya plantation,” he revealed.

When some leave, more come. The jobless youth call the labour office pamgodi, a goldmine somehow. But is briefly pokayesamwayi, a game of luck. Mostly, jobs are hard to come by, they cannot afford to be choosy when the bin is empty reportedly because even bananas are an expensive luxury.

The lingering uncertainties at the labour office mirror dilemmas of thousands of jobless Malawians, both young and old, who are idling, underemployed or getting wasted not because they possess irrelevant skills.

They walk out of secondary school with no skill and the country’s tertiary education system offers limited spaces.

Atop the red bins, the self-styled cast-offs recently heard President Peter Mutharika ask “questions that should convict the nation”.

During Mzuzu University’s 17th graduation ceremony, President Peter Mutharika challenged higher learning institutions to ask themselves: Are they producing graduates competitive with other leading universities across the world, the demands of the industry and the job market as well as the change Malawians desire?

Rejected by a job market that insists on experience and academic qualifications, the underclass is not onside with the remarks. They missed the boat to the country’s universities, which enrol a meagre 3 567 51 years after independence, with dying hopes of catching up.

However, the president was on their side when he amplified the need for skills development initiatives—meaning the newly launched community technical colleges—to create more jobs, wealth and a missing middle class in the country.

“Life would have been better if there was political zeal to fulfill all promises to the youth. None of them would be risking life scrambling for underpaying jobs,” says Lightwell Ng’oma, 68, a retired civil servant.

Government constructed its last technical college around the same time, stagnating with just seven formal institutions that enrol no more than 2 000 out of over 50 000 who pass secondary school final exams annually.

“The development of Tevet [technical, entrepreneurial and vocational education and training] is still in its “infant stage”, reads the 2013 Tevet Policy.

It alludes to a 2010 World Bank Report which shows only 35 in 100 000 enrol in formal Tevet institutions. This is the least rating in the Sadc where Mauritius leads the way at 1 561 with Botswana at 1 128 and the neighbouring Mozambique at 130.

“Our policy and strategic plan have set a goal to make the Tevet system more accessible, responsive and relevant to the labour market knowing we are lagging behind Mozambique which was at war for years, Botswana which has a small population and Mauritius which is a small island by far,” says Tevet Authority (Teveta) director of training Wilson Makulumiza-Nkhoma.

The 2013-18 strategy requires the authority, funded by one percent of every employers’ payroll, to expand by 30 percent places currently on offer.

Investing in the ambitious goal is long overdue as the policy indicates: “The government has not constructed a technical college since 1971, existing infrastructure is inadequate and available equipment mismatch with the modern technology in the labour market.”

The need for increased access is evident among girls who are assigned 30 place in every 100, says Teveta manager in the North, ConceptorKachoka. The minimum contravenes the Sadc Protocol on Gender and Development as well as the Gender Equality Act which prescribe equal representation of men and women in public life, including workplaces and training institutions.

“Despite our commitment for 50:50 representation, we are struggling to meet the said 30 percent. Girls shun Tevet,” explains Kachoka.